Hearing set on proposed Iowa new voter purge rule

January 3, 2013

DES MOINES - Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz is moving forward to establish procedures for removing voters from registration rolls if they can't prove citizenship, with a public hearing scheduled for Thursday expected to draw critics who want to stop the change.

"Schultz's proposed voter-suppression rules will unfairly target Latino immigrants, intimidate voters from exercising their rights, and could result in voters being purged from the rolls without cause," said Ana Belen Mancebo, a member of the government watchdog group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Mancebo, of Des Moines, said in a statement released Tuesday that the group plans to ask Schultz at the hearing to abandon the rule.

An American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa attorney also plans to speak at the hearing in opposition to the rule, which allows Schultz's office to mail a letter to anyone on voter rolls who shows up as a noncitizen in other databases. It gives those targeted for removal from voter registration rolls 30 days to file a challenge. A second notice would be sent with another 30-day response period if there is no answer to the first. Those receiving letters requesting information on their citizenship would also be allowed to ask for as much time as needed to produce documents to prove citizenship, said Chad Olsen, spokesman for Schultz.

Article Photos

The ACLU has filed a written comment calling for Schultz to stop the rule-making process. Several other groups have signed on to the statement including the League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters, and the American Friends Service Committee.

The ACLU plans to present several arguments against the rule, including its contention that an act of the Legislature is required and Schultz cannot enact the rule alone.

"The secretary may put before the Iowa General Assembly a departmental study bill proposing the action contemplated by this rule, but may not avoid the legislative process altogether," ACLU Executive Director Ben Stone says in the written comments.

Schultz attempted to pass two new rules before the November election, but a Polk County District Court judge halted them after the ACLU filed a lawsuit in August. One rule would have made it easier to report alleged voter fraud, but Schultz has since dropped it.